by Ritter Ames
The automatic lights came on outside, but no lights shined in the house as they double-timed it to the Camry. They slid into the seats then closed the doors. Meg hit the main lock switch. Even with the lights, the tall trees around that had seemed so comforting earlier in the day felt suddenly dark and dangerous.
“Look over there hidden in the dark by the far wall of the barn,” Kate whispered, pointing. “I think that’s Bren’s truck bumper.”
The horses stood by the fence, and the dogs were both on the back porch. The hound stayed quiet, but the Lab was sitting up and looking at the car, its tail sweeping the cement.
Meg stayed connected with the 9-1-1 operator, saying, “No, there isn’t anyone around that we can see, but my friend just noticed it looks like the victim’s truck is parked so it’s almost hidden by the barn. The dogs don’t act like they’re worried about anything.” As she listened, Meg put the car in reverse and backed quietly away from the barn. A few seconds later she continued, “I don’t know if it was someone the dogs knew, or if they simply didn’t know anything was going on in the barn...Oh, yes, I see. Do you want us to leave?”
Suddenly, the horses started running toward the main road, and the dogs leaped up and raced down the driveway. A siren sounded off in the distance. Kate looked at her phone directory and pulled up the number for Lieutenant Johnson of the Vermont State Police. Her thumb hovered over the number. When a police car hurtled down the drive, spraying gravel in all directions as it screeched to a stop a few feet behind the Camry, she put her phone back into her pocket. She heard two more sirens in the distance.
Meg told the operator goodbye and lowered the driver’s side window as a uniformed officer drew near. “Do you want us to go in there with you?”
“No, ma’am, just stay here. Backup is coming,” he said.
“The front tack room in that corner of the barn is where you want to go.” Meg pointed at the general area. “But there’s gas spilled in the hallway before you get there.”
Pointing at the bumper of the truck hidden in the dark, Kate said, “We’re pretty sure her pickup is parked on the dark side of that wall.”
“Yes, ma’am. We’ll check it out.” As he walked toward the door, he veered to the truck and shined his light so the women could see his progress searching around the bed and cab, despite the obstructions posted by the barn wall.
Meg raised the glass of her window and asked, “How long do you think before we’ll see Lieutenant Johnson?”
Kate shrugged. “I already thought I might call him, but I figured he’d think I was being a busybody again.”
“Everything we do makes him think we’re busybodies,” Meg said. “But at least telling him what’s going on may help us get home earlier tonight.”
“That’s what I was thinking too.”
Another set of over-bright headlights blinded them through the rear window, and a second set of colored emergency lights added to the circus scene from the first car. The original officer on the scene waved the new man toward the barn. Both held flashlights in their left hands and had their right hands resting on their service revolvers as they entered the structure.
“We probably should have left instead of just sitting here,” Kate said. “The killer could still be nearby.”
“Too late now,” Meg replied. “But we had an emergency operator online with us the whole time.”
“Please don’t tell Keith that. I have the feeling he wouldn’t consider a phone conversation enough protection. I’ll do the same for you with Gil.”
“Secret for a secret. Sounds like a deal.” Meg raised her phone and checked the time. “Keith should be on his way to work. How about if I call my mother and tell her why we’ll be a little later than expected. No point in bothering your hubby before his shift at the radio station. You may as well call Lieutenant Johnson and see if he has plans for the evening.”
An ambulance rocketed into the drive behind them. An EMT walked over and asked, “Either of you hurt?” Both women shook their heads and he went back to the unit. Then Kate and Meg watched as the ambulance crew wrangled a gurney between them. The driver had a cellphone to his ear. They stopped at the barn door.
“Okay, time to give Mother the news.” Meg sighed and raised her phone to dial. “She should be used to this.”
“Yeah.” Kate frowned, running her thumb along the screen of her directory. The heads up, she thought, to let him know what’s going on. But she couldn’t hit the call button on Lieutenant Johnson’s number.
They’d been through similar incidents enough already to know small village police departments weren’t equipped with the manpower to handle most homicide investigations. Though her fingertip hovered over the digital button, she didn’t make the call. Instead, she listened to Meg’s calming words and slid the phone back into her pocket.
The redhead raised an eyebrow. Kate shrugged.
“Yeah, Mother, okay. We’ll stay out of the way. Don’t worry. Lots of people here now,” Meg spoke into the phone. “We’re just waiting to see if there are any questions.”
Her mother said something else, then Meg said goodbye and hung up the phone. She turned to Kate. “Aren’t you going to call Johnson?”
“Even if I’m just doing it to help, to give a heads up,” Kate said, “It would be better to let local law enforcement take the initiative.”
“Afraid the local guys will start calling us busybodies too?”
Kate shook her head. “No, more like I don’t want the local guys to know I have the state police on speed dial. Just in case they plan to handle this by themselves.”
“Good point. Perception could be important when we’re from out of town.”
Minutes later, the EMTs moved back out of the big barn door, this time wheeling the gurney with a black body bag strapped on top. An officer followed, breaking from the procession to head for the Camry. The second officer stayed in the barn. The ambulance pulled away, its emergency lights turned off and siren silent. The revolving lights on the cruisers remained active, increasing Kate’s anxiety.
“Please step out of the car,” he said, speaking through the windshield. When they were out and standing near him on the gravel, he shined his Maglite slowly and carefully through the windows of the Camry, then up and down their bodies.
“We tried not to compromise the scene, once we realized Bren was...dead,” Kate said, hoping she hadn’t any blood on her. She could smell gasoline and figured that was from her shoes. “But I did get down on one knee and touched her neck, just to be sure...in case...”
Meg reached out and squeezed her hand.
“Yes ma’am, that’s good to know.” The other officer came outside, and the first officer motioned toward Meg. “If you’ll please go with him, we’ll get your statements and see if we can get you on your way.”
Kate followed the first officer to his cruiser and Meg went with the second. Each officer turned on the vehicles’ dome lights, so the insides were illuminated. Kate saw Meg look her way and send an encouraging smile. She chewed her lower lip and nodded back, succeeding at a half-smile in return. After stating her name, the officer asked why they were there while the owner was apparently away.
“My company has a contract with Liz’s publisher,” she said. “There’s a photoshoot coming up and my partner and I are helping get everything set up.”
“You’re photographers?”
“No.” Kate launched into the full story, including her business as an organization expert, and how the publisher wanted photo ops of Liz’s office that showed her efficient and pulled-together, while the author wanted to make sure she came across as a real person and show the rescue farm as a vital part of her life.
“Sounds like a tall order.” His gaze stayed on his notebook as he spoke. As he finished writing, he looked up and asked. “But why did you return this evening?”
“I’m embarrassed to say that I left behind all our notes on the room measurements,” she said. “Doesn’t sound ve
ry organized, I know, but I tossed everything toward my tote bag and the notes apparently didn’t go in.”
“Did you retrieve what you needed while you were in the room with the deceased?”
“No, we called 9-1-1 and tried to exit the barn again in as close to our original steps as we could.”
“Were there already footsteps in the feed spilled on the floor? Or were those footsteps yours?” he asked.
“We couldn’t really avoid walking through the feed since it was right outside the door. And while I’m not positive, I’m fairly certain there were already prints in the mess.
“So, you didn’t spill animal feed?”
“No. I think it was goat feed from the bag just inside the door. When we left earlier, the bag was still sealed up tight. We thought at first Liz had opened it to feed the goats. But after we saw... I don’t know, maybe Bren wanted to get the goats away from the barn before she torched the structure. A number of other sick animals are inside the barn though, so...”
“Didn’t appear to be anything around to carry the feed. Did you find a can or something near the victim and move it?” he asked, looking her squarely in the eye.
“No. Like I said, I only touched Bren to check for a pulse. We might have touched the doorframe, but we didn’t move anything. We didn’t even grab the notepads we came for.”
“Any idea where your client is now?”
Oh, boy. Aloud she said, “Someone let her horses out today. When we arrived this evening, we noticed the horses back in the pasture and the fence rails in place again. But we only saw four horses in the pasture. We assumed she’s still looking for the last one.”
“You didn’t call and talk with her when you discovered your resources were missing?”
“Yes, we phoned her business line before we left home but there was no answer. We figured she was still rounding up horses.”
“And you mentioned the victim’s name. You knew her?”
“Not exactly.” She wished she knew what Meg was saying. Anything she said could get Liz in trouble, and she didn’t believe the author was capable of murder. Liz had a strong passion for animals, that was apparent. But she could more easily see Bren getting tied up and hauled off to the police in the back of Liz’s pickup than killed. And she especially couldn’t believe Liz would leave the fresh gasoline in the barn without trying to minimize the fire risk. Still, she needed to be truthful. Meg would tell her to just stick to the facts. “We met her today when she came out to talk to Liz.”
“Were you nearby? Could you hear what they talked about?”
“Bren... She wanted money. Liz told her to leave.”
“And was any money exchanged between them?”
“No. Bren left and the horses disappeared soon after.”
“You believe that’s related?” he asked.
“Circumstantial evidence pointed toward Bren maybe being responsible. But she didn’t make any threats about running the horse off before she left to go to work.”
“She said she was going to work?”
“Um...my partner and I saw her later. We left when Liz and Josh went off to find the horses and bring them back. On our way home, we stopped at the local market just outside of town. Bren apparently worked in produce.”
He nodded but didn’t say anything. Kate wondered how much of this he already knew. Bren hadn’t seemed the sort of person who easily stayed off law enforcement radar, and Kate figured Liz and Stacy weren’t the only people who’d had confrontations with her lately.
The officer thanked Kate for answering his questions and said she could go. Then added, “I spoke to Lieutenant Johnson of the Vermont State Police. He may be contacting you later. He mentioned they already have your fingerprints and your partner’s on file, so we can skip that step tonight.”
Kate felt heat rise on her face as she and the officer exited the cruiser.
The dogs set off their cacophony of barking once more, and both canines hurried down the driveway. A blue Ford F250 swung into sight and stopped behind the second police car. Liz jumped out from behind the wheel.
“What’s going on?” Liz asked, fast walking to the officer and Kate. “Are you and Meg okay?
The officer pointed toward the back porch. “Ma’am, I need you to stand over there. We need to talk to you and the house might be a better place to do that than out here in the yard.”
“There’s been a...” Kate reached out to touch Liz’s shoulder. “Someone’s been hurt.”
“Who?” Liz’s eyes turned saucer-like, and she whipped her head in all directions.
“Ma’am, I really need you to move away from here.”
“He needs to keep us separated until you give your statement,” Kate said, rubbing her sleeve. “It’ll be okay. Just...call someone if you need some...” her words trailed off.
“Like a lawyer?” Liz frowned.
But before Kate could answer, the officer took Liz’s arm and walked her away. The calendar author followed his lead, but her animals were obviously still uppermost in her mind. “I have a calf to doctor. I can’t—”
“We’ll do this as quickly as we can, Mrs. Tillman.”
“Liz, can you phone someone to stay with you tonight?” Kate called. “Or will you come stay with me. You shouldn’t be alone.”
“I’ll call my oldest. He’s not camping with the rest,” Liz responded. Then when the officer said something quietly, she turned back and moved toward the door and searched for the right key on her ring.
“Want to stay? Just to make sure?” Meg asked, joining her on the gravel.
Kate nodded. “Maybe they’ll be too busy to notice the Camry is still here.”
“Probably not a chance of that, but it doesn’t mean I’ll move before I want to,” Meg said. “I need to make sure she’s safe for the night, for my own peace of mind.”
“Good.” Kate snapped the rubber band on her wrist. “Because I was going to suggest we do the same thing.”
About an hour later, Liz and the officer walked out the back door. Kate and Meg scrambled from the Camry.
“He...” Liz pointed to the officer as Kate and Meg drew near. “I need to tend the animals and he’s going with me. The barn is off limits to me otherwise.”
Meg stepped up. “We could help—”
“No.” The officer interrupted. “You can leave. We have your contact information if we need more.”
Kate noticed Meg’s spine straighten and her expression harden. Time to step in. “We just want to be sure Liz has someone to stay with her tonight, officer. The rest of her family is gone this week, and it doesn’t seem quite safe for a woman here alone.”
“I’ve called my son David,” Liz spoke up. “He’ll be here in an hour. His college classes are out this week and he says he can get out of work.” She sighed, “I hope he’s not...” Her words trailed off and she looked down at the gravel, then raised her gaze and said, “If you could watch for him. He needs to stay back, and if he arrives before I’m out of the barn...”
“We’ll watch for him,” Kate said.
“We’ll stay until we know you’re settled,” Meg added. She glanced at the officer. “Just making sure you’re safe.”
“We’ll be leaving an officer guarding the crime scene tonight,” the officer assured.
“Still.” Meg’s head gave a brisk nod and she walked back to the Camry.
Kate touched Liz’s arm and added, “We’ll watch for David.”
Instead of getting back into the Camry, the women leaned against the trunk of the car. The Lab wandered over and nosed Meg’s right hand. “Take it you want an ear rub, you friendly dog, you.”
“You’re like a dog magnet,” Kate said, crossing her arms.
The redhead used both hands to give the dog’s head a super massage. “They recognize a head bitch when they see one.” The chocolate Lab shot Meg a huge canine grin and Kate laughed.
Bleating that emanating from the direction of the goat pen offered them a current
location for Liz and her shadow.
“Are we kind of stupid standing here under the yard lights like obvious targets?” Kate asked.
“Bren was killed by a letter opener, not a gun. Call me crazy, but I think we’re safe,” Meg said.
“I wish the murder weapon hadn’t been a family heirloom. No telling when or if she’ll ever get it back.”
“Yeah, tough on someone like Liz.”
Kate stared in the direction of the pen. “All the goat food on the floor of the barn. Who do you think had it? Bren? Or her killer? And it was just the grain pellets, not whatever the feed was carried in. So where is the container?”
“Good questions,” Meg said. “From what Liz said earlier about Bren’s love of animals, one option would be that she filled a coffee can or bucket with goat feed to use once she finished sloshing gasoline all over the barn. She’d use the feed to get the goats to the other side of the pen and keep them safer.”
“But would it?” Kate hugged her torso tighter.
“What do you mean?”
“Just that the pen was circled with wooden rails and wire. If the barn went up, the pen would eventually too, and the goats likely standing terrified in the center of the flaming rectangle.”
“Ah, yes. And why save the goats anyway when she’d likely not be able to get the sick animals from the barn, so they’d die.”
“But does that jive with how much Bren seemed to love animals?”
Meg shrugged. “We never saw that side of Bren. All we saw was the self-absorbed and grabby side. She turned out the horses and sabotaged the fence. I have to imagine she would run the goats off. Maybe the feed was to get them going out an open gate. She was humiliated here today and humiliated later at the market when she was fired in front of a crowd. With the anger she already showed, I can see her being vindictive enough to try to hurt Liz by burning the barn and possibly killing the rescues.”
“If Bren’s the feed connection, why was the killer in the barn? And who could it have been besides Liz?”